From the shelf: Last to Die (Rizzoli and Isles #10)

Title: Last to Die (Rizzoli and Isles #10)

Author: Tess Gerritsen

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Crime, Thriller
Date read: August 26-27, 2015
Dawn Rates: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Summary (cr: goodreads)

For the second time in his short life, Teddy Clock has survived a massacre. Two years ago, he barely escaped when his entire family was slaughtered. Now, at fourteen, in a hideous echo of the past, Teddy is the lone survivor of his foster family’s mass murder. Orphaned once more, the traumatized teenager has nowhere to turn—until the Boston PD puts detective Jane Rizzoli on the case. Determined to protect this young man, Jane discovers that what seemed like a coincidence is instead just one horrifying part of a relentless killer’s merciless mission.

Jane spirits Teddy to the exclusive Evensong boarding school, a sanctuary where young victims of violent crime learn the secrets and skills of survival in a dangerous world. But even behind locked gates, and surrounded by acres of sheltering Maine wilderness, Jane fears that Evensong’s mysterious benefactors aren’t the only ones watching. When strange blood-splattered dolls are found dangling from a tree, Jane knows that her instincts are dead on. And when she meets Will Yablonski and Claire Ward, students whose tragic pasts bear a shocking resemblance to Teddy’s, it becomes chillingly clear that a circling predator has more than one victim in mind.

Joining forces with her trusted partner, medical examiner Maura Isles, Jane is determined to keep these orphans safe from harm. But an unspeakable secret dooms the children’s fate—unless Jane and Maura can finally put an end to an obsessed killer’s twisted quest.

My Review: (also in goodreads)

Rizzoli and Isles series: The Surgeon, The Apprentice, The Sinner, Body Double,Vanish, The Mephisto Club, The Keepsake, The Silent Girl

Rizzoli and Isles short stories: Freaks

Every book in this series never fails to astound me. And just when I thought I got an amazing plot the book before, every installment tops itself. Family troubles and envious, smug colleagues could not even faze Jane Rizzoli's instincts. The story starts Teddy Clock being orphaned with both parents and foster parents murdered, rescued by an unknown savior and dumped into Rizzoli's care. Crowe is the lead investigator of the case and as much as I wanted to punch his smug head off, having the satisfaction that everyone in Boston will eventually know he failed...getting his ego trampled by bulldozers is good enough for me. A lot was in play in this latest installment: Rizzoli, Isles, everyone at Boston PD, Moore, Crowe, Anthony Sansone and the Mephisto society is back as well as Julian Perkins and Evensong. It was when both Rizzoli and Frost had suspicions about the other 2 children and their eerie connection to Teddy Clock's past did I notice that something big was in play. I'm not going to tell everyone anything so that the new readers will still keep their element of surprise intact.

I like Maura Isles: her confidence, intelligence and ice cold demeanor but she can be a bit stupid most of the time when it comes to love. I am now leaning towards Jane Rizzoli's character. She may be a little wild at times but her instincts are rarely wrong plus she has a good heart and a sense of justice. I liked how both of their personalities compliment each other and how their characters grew up since the first book. Their friendship and trust for one another has grown. I hope Julian and the other Jackals would star in their own spin-off (that is just wishful thinking). Out of all the books so far, and believe me I love them all, this would be the one I would love to see as a movie.

Till the next read...